William martin



(No Model.)

w. MARTIN.- RAILWAY GATE.

' Patented Oct. 12,1897.

Ira/enforww mgw UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

IVILLIAM MARTIN, SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THOMAS F. LITTLE, OF SAME PLACE.

RAILWAY-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 591,656, dated October 12, 1897.

Application filed April 8, 1897. Serial No. 631,272. (No modelo To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1; WILLIAM MARTIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Salem, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Railway-Gates, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Some railway-crossings are so wide that single gates of practicable length, located at opposite sides of the street, road, or highway and swinging down toward each other, are insufficient to meet and together properly span the same. In such cases it is customary to employ additional gates, which are mountedat an intermediate place. Ordinarily every gate is mounted upon a separate stand or post. The large number of gates which is required at such a crossing renders the cost of affording protection at the latter very considerable and the frequency with which repairs become necessary and the expense of maintenance are increased, while in some municipalities a tax or charge is levied or assessed for every post or stand erected in a public street or road for the support of such a gate. With the arrangements which heretofore have been introduced into use for operating railway-gates it is very difficult and in some cases impossible to work the gates at some wide crossings.

The object of my invention is to provide in improved manner for the support and actuation of railway-gates, more particularly of such as are used at wide crossings like those which are treated of above, but also of gates in general, particular aims being to reduce the number of posts or other supports, to diminish generally the cost of construction and maintenance, to reduce the friction when the gates are operated and facilitate the moving of the gates, and to dispense with the use of gearing in the power-transmitting connections.

The invention will be described first with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which is represented the best embodiment thereof which I have yet contrived, after which the distinguishing characteristics thereof will be particularly pointed out and distinctly defined in the claims at the close of this specification. Y

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a View in side elevation, partly sectioned, of a system of gates embodying my present invention. Fig. 5 5 2 is an enlarged plan of the central portion thereof, certain portions being shown in section.

The gates barring the highway atone side of the track are pivoted to three pillars 1 2 3, the pillars 1 and 3 being placed one at or within each curb of the highway, and the pillar 2 being placed in the middle of the highway, in line with the other pillars. To the pillar 1 is pivoted onthe rock-shaft 4 the gate 5. To the pillar 2 are pivoted the gates 6 and 7, each one upon one-half of the sectional shaft 8 9. To the pillar 3 is pivoted the gate 10 upon the rock-shaft 11. The gates 5 and 6 together close the left half of the roadway, while the gates 7 and 10 close the right half of the road way. Under the roadway beneath the line of pillarsl 2 3 extends an opening 12. On the rock-shaft 4 is fixed a rocker-arm 13, projecting, when the gate 5 is horizontal, up-

ward and backward at an angle of forty-five degrees, or, in other words, at an angle of one hundred and thirty-five degrees with said gate. In the opening 12 and directly beneath and parallel with the rock-shaft 4 is located in bearings 14 a rock-shaft 15, bearing a rocker-arm 16.' The rocker-arms 13 and 16 are connected by a link 17 of such length as to hold the arms parallel or substantially so. The rocking of theshaft 15, therefore, with a left-hand motion will exert draft along the link 17 and will rock the shaft 4 and raise the gate 5. During this operation the rockerarm 13 passes from the position shown in Fig. 1 (an upward angle of forty-five degrees) through an arc of ninety degrees till it rests at a downward angle of forty-five degrees. The are thus traversed is nearly perpendicular, and consequently the draft exerted through the perpendicular link 17 exerts its full force in lifting the gate 5.

The shaft 15 is rocked by a train of mechanism embodying a mechanical movement for which I have made application for Letters Patent, the said application being Serial No. roo

connected by the link 52.

624,130, filed February 19, 1897. It will here be sufficient to indicate in brief the parts making up the said mechanismthat is to say:

18 is a rocker-arm on the shaft 15.

19'is a curved link connecting the arm with a lever 20.

211 is a second curved link connecting the lever 20 with the lever 21. The upper end of the lever 21 is formed into an arc-shaped rack 22, the said rack being engaged by the pinion 23. The pinion is borne on a shaft 24, which is supported on a bracket 25 and rotated by a crank 26 by the gate-tender.

27 is a rocker-arm afiixed to the shaft 15 at an angle of ninety degrees to the arm 16 i. e., projecting upward and forward instead of upward and backward.

28 is a rock-shaft located in bearings 29, directly under and parallel with the sectional shaft 8 9 in the pillar 2.

30 is a rock-shaft located in bearings 31, directly under and parallel with the shaft 11 in the pillar 3.

The shafts 28 and 30 are provided With rocker-arms 32 and 33, projecting parallel with the rocker-arm 27 on the shaft 15. The extremities of these three rocker-arms being in line are connected bya rod 34. Upon the shaft 11 is set a' rocker-arm 51, projecting obliquely upward at an angle of one hundred and thirty-five degrees to the gate 10. Upon the shaft 30 is set a second rocker-arm 511, projecting obliquely upward and at an angle of ninety degrees'to the rocker-arm 33. The extremities of the rocker-arms 51 and 511 are Upon the respective sections of the sectional shaft 8 9 are set rockeiaarms 53 54, each projecting obliquely upward at an angle of one hundred and thirtyfive degrees to the gate on the same sectiont'. e., the rocker-arm 53 at one hundred and thirtyfive degrees to the gate 7 and the rocker-arm 54 at one hundred and thirty-five degrees to the gate 6. Upon the shaft 28 is set a rockerarm 55, projecting obliquely upward and at ninety degrees to the rocker-arm 32. The rocker-arms 52 and 55 are connected by the link 56. It will, however, be perceived that I do'not connect the rocker-arm 54 directly with the rocker-arm 55, but provide the link 56 with an ofiset 57, located part way up from the lower end of the link, and to the extrem- 1 ity of the said offset I pivot the bent end of the connecting-bar 58, whose straight end is pivoted to the rocker-arm 54. By this construction I obtain a direct pull upon the on the shaft-section 8. The side 63 of the gate 7 is loose on the shaft-section 8.

It will of course be understood that where gates on opposite sides of the railroad-track are to be operated in unison the rock-shafts 15, 2S, and 3.0 will be extended through crossopenings beneath the tracks and will be connected with gates on both sides'of the tracks by devices duplicating those pertaining to the system already described.

The operation of the system will be understood from the description in connection with the drawings.

It will be observed that the stress to which the rods, links, and connecting-bars are subjected is tensile, and the parts maybe therefore light in construction and will not be subject to distortion.

As shown in Fig. 1 each ofthe arms 13, 53, 54, and 51 is slotted longitudinally in order to permit the point of attachment of the corresponding link or connecting-rod 17, 56, 58, or 52 to be shifted toward or from the shaft on which it is mounted and thus transmit the desired range of movement to the correspond- .for variations or changes in the lengths of the parts which are due to changes of temperature.

For convenience of illustration I have in Fig. 1 shown a portion of the actuating mechanism for the gates located in the roadway intermediate to the posts 1 and 2. This results from the smallness of the scale on which the drawings is executed and the undertaking to make the drawings show the essential operative parts and their connections as clearly as possible? It will be understood that in practice the roadway will not be obstructed by the said operating mechanism.

What I claim is 1. The combination of a series of actuating rock-shafts, rocker-arms upon the said rock- 'shafts, and a rod or rods connecting said arms together, of a second series of rock-shafts, gates mounted on said second series of rockshafts, rocker-arms upon the latter, links connecting the rocker-arms on one set of shafts with the respective rocker-arms on the other set of shafts, and the lever 21 having the rack 22, an actuating-shaft geared to said rack, whereby to operate said lever 21, and connections intermediate to lever 21 and one of the rock-shafts of the first series, substantially as described.

2. In combination, the pillar 2, the shaftsections 8 and 9 mounted in the said pillar in line with each other, the gate 6 having one arm thereof fixed upon one shaft-section and the other arm thereof loose upon the second shaft-section,the gate 7 having one arm thereof fixed upon the second shaft-section and the other arm thereof loose upon the first shaftsection, and means to operate the said shaftsections and gates to raise and lower the latter, substantially as described.

3. In combination, the pillar 2,'the shaftsections 8 and 9 mounted in the said pillar in line with each other, the gate 6 having one arm thereof fixed upon one shaft-section and the other 'arm thereof loose upon the second shaft-section, the gate 7 having one arm thereof fixed upon the second shaft-section and the other arm thereof loose upon the first shaft-section, the arms 53 and 54: on the respective shaft-section s, and operating connections joined to said arms whereby the gates may be raised and lowered simultaneously, substantially as described.

4:. The combination of a sectional shaft, gates mounted on the respective sections or portions of said shaft and arranged to rise and fall in opposite directions, rocker-arms mounted on said sections or portions of said shaft, an operating rock-shaft located be-- neat-h said sectional shaft,a rocker-arm thereon,'a link connecting the latter rocker-arm with the corresponding rocker-arm on said sectional shaft, an offset on said link, and a connecting-bar connecting said ofiset and the 

